Frederick County Public Schools reports pre-K enrollment surge and details Judy Center services

Leslie Fry, supervisor of early childhood education and Judy Centers for Frederick County Public Schools, told the committee that the district has expanded pre-kindergarten programming and is centralizing enrollment to improve equity and access.

Fry said the district operates 90 pre-K classrooms and coordinates six Judy Centers that provide year-round family supports and early learning for children prenatal through age 5. "We really do have arms out throughout the community as we focus on birth through kindergarten," Fry said.

The update said 50 of the 90 pre-K programs are "traditional" full-day classrooms with a certified pre-K teacher and an instructional assistant, and 16 are inclusion pre-K programs that combine students with individualized education programs (IEPs) and income-eligible peers. The district also runs five self-contained classrooms for students with specialized needs and 13 half-day inclusion classrooms for three-year-olds.

Lauren Perry, coordinator of program quality, described the classroom day and supports: students follow a bell schedule similar to elementary grades, receive small-group instruction informed by FCPS assessments, access specials such as art and PE, and have rest and guided play time. Perry said the centralized enrollment process had "processed about 1,600" applications at the…